taiwanwireservice.com 2017-05-03 00:00:00

The transportation ministry says it believes the cruise industry could generate NT$5 billion (US$166 million) in revenue for Taiwan during 2017. That was according to Deputy Transportation Minister Wang Kuo-tsai on Wednesday.

Wang was responding to questions from members of the Legislature's transportation committee. He was asked about falling numbers of cruise ships calling at the ports of Taichung and Hualien amid a drop off in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan.

Wang said that economic factors and a decline in Chinese tourist arrivals hit Taiwan's cruise market last year. But he said that the transportation ministry aims to boost the industry's performance this year. He said the ministry hopes to attract more tourists from Northeast and Southeast Asia by promoting fly cruises based in Taiwan. On fly cruises residents of one country fly to another country for a cruise before returning home again by air.

Wang said the promotion of fly cruises and efforts to make Taiwan a more attractive destination should see 600 cruise ships call at Taiwanese ports this year. He also said these strategies should bring one million cruise passengers to Taiwan during the year.